Rebecca Manias | And other dimensions of Portraiture

Mar 2

2021-04 Edge poster - Manias final jpg.jpg

Rebecca Manias
And other dimensions of Portraiture

Edge Gallery, April 2 - May 1, 2021

And other dimensions of Portraiture explores alternate ideas of portraiture and the body. Throughout Western art history, the female body has often been used as a “muse” or conduit for artists to express various ideas or concepts. Ideas such as delicacy, virtue or sexual nature are common in this canon. Male bodies have been used to depict strength, bravery, destruction and intellect. Both have been problematic in that they try to solidify an idea of what gender should look like. Often, women’s bodies have been portrayed through the ‘male gaze’, a term popularized by feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey and art critic John Berger. This refers to the ways in which we view the female body through a lens that is predominately male and is based in objectification. This has been the norm, and though it is being challenged, is still the dominate lens from which film is created and many other art forms. There are a number of people, in recent history, who have actively challenged and moved away from this idea, realizing that their knowledge of art and gender has been shaped mainly by male historians, artists, curators and general arts admin. Feminist movements, LGBTQ2S+ and non-conforming artists, have all created work to subvert the male gaze. Through these movements, there has been a shift in art and portraiture. There is an acknowledgement that not all bodies are either male or female, and not all lenses are male. Artists have also strived to paint these bodies to help them gain visibility.

In reference to famous portraits such as Titian’s Venus of Urbino (Reclining Venus) and J.A.D. Ingres’s La grande odalisque, I have replaced the women with people who identify as male. Overtime, I have rarely, if ever, found portraits of men painted in the way that these women were. I have had difficulty finding portraits of men in the nude that displays their more vulnerable and gentle qualities. This is troublesome. Lots of individuals have been taught and still hold onto dangerous ideas about gender. Many artists explore these ideas, specifically the ways in which we view one another and how that is often shaped by the images we see on a daily basis. Artists, over recent decades, have explored this in many different mediums. I am always thinking about how stories, images, the ways in which we speak about gender etc., holds a lot of power. Seeing someone who people view as male, in a vulnerable and gentle position while nude, creates a different story than the one that is often sold to us. These portraits aim to assist in shaping positive narratives around the fluid nature of gender. Alternatively, the abstract portraits I have created are of women and people who do not gender identify. I wanted to showcase a different kind of portraiture, where the body is not the focus or used in an exploitative manner, as often happens with individuals who are seen as other (women, trans folks, non-gender identifying people, etc).

REBECCA MANIAS
Rebecca Manias (she/her/they) is a visual artist whose practice focuses on painting, printmaking, and mixed-media art. She is strongly influenced by the legitimate and fictionalized interpretations of the occult, primarily as it relates to feminism and mysticism. Rebecca received her MSc. in Contemporary Art History from the University of Edinburgh in 2010, and Her B.A in Visual Arts and Art History from McMaster University in 2007. Rebecca has participated in group and solo exhibitions throughout Canada and the U.K. She is also actively engaged in a curatorial practice, scenic design and art direction for various artistic projects and productions within Canada. She currently resides as an uninvited guest on the traditional territories of the Ta'an Kwach'an Council and Kwanlin Dün First Nation.

My practice explores contemporary mysticism and storytelling through a feminist intersectional lens. I investigate the idea of myth and its relationship to intersectionality-I use this term, as I want to be a part of a world where a baseline of equality across race, gender, identity and ideas surrounding the body, exist as the status quo. As such, I explore these ideas in my artwork through literal and abstracted presentation.